diff --git a/gadget-drone/src/services/agent.ts b/gadget-drone/src/services/agent.ts
index b712187..a650dab 100644
--- a/gadget-drone/src/services/agent.ts
+++ b/gadget-drone/src/services/agent.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,11 @@
 
 import { Types } from "@gadget/api";
 import { Socket } from "socket.io-client";
-import { IAiChatOptions, type IContextChatMessage } from "@gadget/ai";
+import {
+  IAiChatOptions,
+  IAiStreamChunk,
+  type IContextChatMessage,
+} from "@gadget/ai";
 import {
   IChatSession,
   IChatTurn,
@@ -32,6 +36,11 @@ export interface IAgentWorkOrder {
   context: IChatTurn[];
 }
 
+interface IAgentWorkflow {
+  chatOptions: IAiChatOptions;
+  context: IContextChatMessage[];
+}
+
 type DroneSocket = Socket<ServerToClientEvents, ClientToServerEvents>;
 
 class AgentService extends GadgetService {
@@ -55,67 +64,100 @@ class AgentService extends GadgetService {
     socket: DroneSocket,
   ): Promise<void> {
     const { turn } = workOrder;
+    const task: IAgentWorkflow = {
+      chatOptions: {},
+      context: [],
+    };
 
     async function aiCallTool(name: string, args: string) {
       return "[all tool calls are stubbed out]";
     }
 
-    const context = this.buildSessionContext(workOrder);
-    const chatOptions: IAiChatOptions = {
-      systemPrompt: turn.prompts.system,
-      context,
-      userPrompt: turn.prompts.user,
+    const onStreamChunk = async (chunk: IAiStreamChunk): Promise<void> => {
+      this.log.debug("stream chunk received", { chunk });
     };
 
-    let keepProcessing = true;
-    do {
-      const response = await AiService.chat(
-        turn.provider,
-        {
-          modelId: turn.llm,
-          params: {
-            reasoning: false,
-            temperature: 0.8,
-            topP: 0.9,
-            topK: 40,
-          },
-        },
-        chatOptions,
+    try {
+      task.context = this.buildSessionContext(workOrder);
+      task.chatOptions = {
+        systemPrompt: turn.prompts.system,
+        context: task.context,
+        userPrompt: turn.prompts.user,
+      };
+    } catch (cause) {
+      socket.emit(
+        "workOrderComplete",
+        turn._id,
+        false,
+        `failed to build session context: ${(cause as Error).message}`,
       );
+      const error = new Error("failed to build session context", { cause });
+      throw error;
+    }
 
-      // Emit thinking content if present
-      if (response.thinking) {
-        socket.emit("thinking", response.thinking);
-      }
-
-      // Emit response content if present
-      if (response.response) {
-        socket.emit("response", response.response);
-      }
-
-      keepProcessing = (response.toolCalls?.length ?? 0) > 0;
-      for (const toolCall of response.toolCalls ?? []) {
-        const result = await aiCallTool(
-          toolCall.function.name,
-          toolCall.function.arguments,
+    try {
+      let keepProcessing = true;
+      do {
+        const response = await AiService.chat(
+          turn.provider,
+          {
+            modelId: turn.llm,
+            params: {
+              reasoning: false,
+              temperature: 0.8,
+              topP: 0.9,
+              topK: 40,
+            },
+          },
+          task.chatOptions,
+          onStreamChunk,
         );
-        context.push({
-          createdAt: new Date(),
-          role: "tool",
-          callId: toolCall.callId,
-          content: result,
-        });
 
-        // Emit tool call event
-        socket.emit(
-          "toolCall",
-          toolCall.callId,
-          toolCall.function.name,
-          toolCall.function.arguments,
-          result,
-        );
-      }
-    } while (keepProcessing);
+        // Emit thinking content if present
+        if (response.thinking) {
+          socket.emit("thinking", response.thinking);
+        }
+
+        // Emit response content if present
+        if (response.response) {
+          socket.emit("response", response.response);
+        }
+
+        keepProcessing = (response.toolCalls?.length ?? 0) > 0;
+        for (const toolCall of response.toolCalls ?? []) {
+          const result = await aiCallTool(
+            toolCall.function.name,
+            toolCall.function.arguments,
+          );
+          task.context.push({
+            createdAt: new Date(),
+            role: "tool",
+            callId: toolCall.callId,
+            content: result,
+          });
+
+          // Emit tool call event
+          socket.emit(
+            "toolCall",
+            toolCall.callId,
+            toolCall.function.name,
+            toolCall.function.arguments,
+            result,
+          );
+        }
+      } while (keepProcessing);
+    } catch (cause) {
+      socket.emit(
+        "workOrderComplete",
+        turn._id,
+        false,
+        `failed to process agentic workflow loop: ${(cause as Error).message}`,
+      );
+      const error = new Error("failed to process agentic workflow loop", {
+        cause,
+      });
+      throw error;
+    }
 
     // Emit work order complete
     socket.emit("workOrderComplete", turn._id, true);